Back from beyond the cinder cone, Kona re-purchased by original founders
With the great news that Kona Bicycles is now back in the creative hands of its founders, we take a look into the back story of this iconic and slightly whacky bike brand.
[Words and photography by Steve Thomas]
Just a few weeks back, the outlook for the future of Kona Bicycles was very much in the balance, and many feared that one of the finest off-road-centric bike brands of the current era was about to become all but yet another head badge on a low budget supermarket bike, as have many other classic bike brands become in recent years.
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But with a fantastical script that could only be etched out by the original Kona founders, Dan Gerhard and Jake (Jacob) Heilbron re-emerged. In a near Batman and Robin super-hero style the dynamic duo stepped into the arena and re-purchased Kona from its last owners, US-based Kent Outdoors, to whom they sold the brand back in January 2022. In doing so we hope that they have saved Kona as we know it from potential destruction.
A brief history of Kona
Many bike brands and industry figures who have defined our mountain and other bikes, their parts, the way we ride them, and the sport of mountain biking in general, emerged during the 1980s along the West Coast of the USA. Following a long early 1980s bike tour from Canada to Mexico on his Dawes Galaxy touring bike, the young Canadian Jake fell in love with cycling and started working in a Vancouver bike shop.
Things progressed rapidly and he ended up involved in the Canadian brand Rocky Mountain Cycles, which is where he first met the young American cyclist Dan, who came to work for the company, and it would be fair to say that they hit it off.
2024 kona story hero.jpg, by Liam Mercer
With mountain biking taking off at the time the duo decided to go deeper into the bike business with a new offroad brand. So they teamed up with multiple US MTB Champion Joe Murray as chief designer and set up shop in Washington State, USA, although Joe did leave Kona at the end of 1993.
With a mutual passion for Hawaii and volcanoes the brand name was eventually settled on in 1988 – Kona, named after the Hawaiian island to which they both hoped to retire, one day. Needless to say, this is how names such as Cindercone, Lava Dome, Fire Mountain, Explosif & Kilauea came from, while Hei Hei means race in Hawaiian – loosely speaking.
As for where names like Sutra, Sex, Stinky, Poo & Jackshit came from – well, I guess you’ll need to come to your conclusions there. It’s all part and parcel of being Kona – which is quite unlike most other brands out there and is most definitely defined by original character, charisma and a flare for doing and making things differently, which has always been reflected throughout their off-road-dominated bike range over the years, and is probably why they have a near Kona-cult like following.
The second coming
Kona was sold to Kent Outdoors in 2022 – a large US-based water sports orientated and outdoors group who own numerous brands, and although Jake and Dan had hoped that Kent would follow the same twisty Kona trail they had carved out over the years, well – that didn’t work out.
Kent decided to restructure its portfolio, leaving Kona out of their longer-term plans. The whole bike industry has been on something of a long and rough ride recently, much like riding a brakeless fixie down a World Cup DH track, and with no real soft landing in sight. During the past few years, several cycling brands and businesses have been broken and bruised by the current situation, and many will never return.
2024 kona 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Many others have fallen into the hands of conglomerate investment companies, which has very much changed the face of the bike industry, and while some have thrived through this, others far less so. We have no idea what financial deal was reached between Jake, Dan and Kent, but either way – after decades in the industry, with the bleakness that lingers around it at the moment, and with those Kona retirement dreams on the horizon, it takes serious drive, commitment, passion, and a whole lot of risk for the pair re-enter the game in such a turbulent time. That kind of very personal passion is something that only comes from such an inherent connection to a brand.
Not so long ago, Orange Bikes was also saved from the brink by its “second-generation” owner, and a while before that Stanton Bikes was retrieved by its founder Dan Stanton. While many brands and figures within the bike industry are still on that rough ride of uncertainty, it’s great to see such commitment and glimmers of hope from Kona, and no doubt it will only increase their brand loyalty around the world, it’s good news for everyone in the bike industry and sport in general.
Kona riders
Right from the get-go, Kona has supported many riders, teams, organisations and causes around the world, often going way above and beyond what might be expected of a privately owned bike brand, and it’s something that those who’ve been given that leg up in support of their careers greatly appreciated, and it has built a long-lasting loyalty from many towards the brand and its people.
From its many home-brewed freeriders to downhill aces such as Fabien Barel, Greg Minnaar and Conor Fearon, to cross-country thoroughbreds such as Roland Green and current World 24-hour Champion Cory Wallace, the Kona roster has always been a varied one, and many of these riders have also played a part in the evolution of Kona bikes over the years, with Fabien Barel being particularly impactful on downhill and trail bikes.
Kona has also had a long and rich history with British riders and teams, with the likes of Gary Foord, Steve Peat, Tracy Moseley and cyclo-cross racer Helen Wyman all having been Kona riders during their time, be that via direct factory support, distributor backing or local shop deals, Kona has been omnipresent on the UK offroad race scene for decades.
Five-time and current World 24-hour MTB Champion Cory Wallace has ridden all of his professional career with Kona until the brand cut much of its sponsorships earlier this year. Just a couple of weeks ago he crushed his own FKT on the trail to Everest Base Camp, we caught up with him in Nepal to ask his thoughts on the news.
"It is great to see the brand back in the hands of Dan and Jake who are both passionate bike riders. When the large ownership group took over the past few years it sure changed everything. With the original owners back, Kona is going back to its roots where the company feels like one big family of people who just love to ride their bikes."
"Kona has always been a tight-knit company and I think it will be even more so now."
Tracy Moseley
Although generally associated with her long stretch riding for Trek, Malvern’s former World Downhill and Enduro Champion Tracy Moseley spent much of her earlier career with Kona, and so we asked her for her thoughts on the news that the brand was back in the hands of Dan and Jake.
2024 kona 3.jpg, by Liam Mercer
“It's been a tough few years for the everyone in bike industry, and to see a brand like Kona disappear was sad, as it has such a great history and is a brand with its own unique characteristic and vibe, something really important for the bicycle world and the choices we have.”
“I think it’s great news that Dan and Jake have bought the company back, they are great guys and have such passion for the brand…so cool.”
What did the brand and her sponsorship from them mean to her personally?
“My sponsorship from Kona started in 2000 and it was the most perfect opportunity, as I finished university that year and was able to have a go at going full-time. Russ Carty was the team manager, and we had sponsorship from Ford Motors. It was an incredible team and was based in the UK. I had a Ford Focus car on loan, the opportunity to race all over the world and do my first full season of World Cup races.”
Perhaps the most iconic moment of her racing career was a much-lauded Highland Fling on her Kona.
“In 2002 I won my first DH World Cup in Fort William and went on to win many more World Cups, the World Cup overall in 2006, a European title, and many national titles with Kona. I had an incredible nine years with Kona, and I am very grateful for the opportunities it gave me – and it really did get my career started.“
Although Kona was forced to cut much of its sponsorship for 2024, we all hope that the return to its origins will eventually lead to a resurgence of the colourful jerseys on the racetracks of the world. That said, given ongoing strife within the global bike industry we’re sure they will have many more pressing issues to balance out right now. We wish them well with reconjuring that quirky kind of Kona magic, something which has been a uniquely special part of mountain biking for so very long.
